Follow UsSince Bazball took over, the conditions and pitch in England have been extremely result-oriented, with multiple series’ ending in an outright result. It was a similar pattern of play in the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s, where the clash got over in less than three days.
Former South African pacer Dale Steyn, who watched the WTC final closely, admitted that the series between England and India would be a result-oriented one, predicting that there would not be a single draw. The five-match Test series begins on June 20 (Friday), at Headingley.
“All games will be close. But all will have a result. I think it will be 3-2 in favour of England. There will be a result in every Test match. There will be no runaway win for any team, all five games will be very close,” Steyn made his prediction on JioHotstar.
Under Brendon McCullum’s tutelage, the Three Lions have won 15 out of 20 results, while losing just four clashes. Steyn also commented on South Africa’s title run, stating that they were rampant, with seven wins in a row.
“From the start of this World Test Championship cycle, South Africa knew they had to win a certain number of games to make it to the final — and they did that, winning seven in a row, regardless of the opposition,” Steyn said.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re up against, anyone who’s played Test cricket will tell you that winning even a single Test match is never easy. To win seven consecutively, earn a spot in the final, and then go on to get over the line today — that’s absolutely huge,” he added.
Despite wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, there was a question mark over whether South Africa deserved to be in the final. Temba Bavuma’s men tossed all those debates away with a dominant win over Australia, one of the best Test sides around in the world.
“These are two massive teams. They’ve been fierce rivals for years. Australia commands a lot of respect from every South African cricketer for all that they’ve achieved, especially their world titles. So South Africa knew this was going to be one of their toughest tests.”